Michael Schumacher today refused to apologise for an incident which, more than any other, confirmed his reputation as the most ruthless competitor that Formula One has seen.

At Monaco four years ago, in his last season in F1, the German parked his car at the crucial Rascasse corner just as Fernando Alonso, his main rival for the drivers' title, was on his qualifying lap. The race stewards subsequently pushed Schumacher from the front of the grid to the back. today, when asked if he regretted the controversial move, he said: "It doesn't change things if we go back into it. We are now in 2010."

When asked again, Schumacher said: "I had great fun in the race. I came through the field from last and I think I finished fifth. That was good fun."

But was that Saturday a low point in his career? "You made it, yes," he said. "You journalists. Some of you guys ... Let's look forward and not backwards." So would he do it again in 2010? "You're boring," he said, trying to change the subject.

When yet another effort was made to try to prise the "s" word from his lips, Schumacher said: "You can keep trying, absolutely, but I am not talking about it any more. There is enough said and I don't feel I need to get any deeper into it."

There were other incidents, of course, in Schumacher's Formula One career before his recently rescinded retirement, particularly those involving Damon Hill at Adelaide in 1994 and Jacques Villeneuve at Jerez in 1997. But it was the incident involving Alonso that confirmed Schumacher's status as the sport's pantomime villain.

After disappointing performances this season in the first three races – and something more abject in the fourth in Shanghai – Schumacher showed some of the qualities that made him world champion seven times in the course of the Spanish grand prix in Barcelona.

That, of course, has brought him back into focus before the Monaco grand prix. "It's so unique, all the history it has, just thinking of the history makes it so special and a good reason to want to win it," he said. He placed winning at Monaco just below winning the world championship. "To be so close to the wall at such a speed is extra special. Here, if you want to nail it there is no margin for any little error whatsoever. You have to time it perfectly right.

"I'm looking forward to the weekend. It is an interesting track. For us drivers it a high rate of challenge. Its ironic, because in a way, we are always looking for safety; to try to have the tracks as safe as possible then we come and race here. But then, I have to say, it's fun."